Chappell In..

So the news is finally out and the suspense finally over! Greg Chappell takes on the mantle of John Wright. His only serious contender for the 'coveted' job was Tom Moody.

Tom Moody

Tom Moody may have a good track record as a coach. Imagine this though, if Moody was appointed coach, what would he tell Sachin Tendulkar?

Sharjah 1998: The Coco Cola Cup: Sachin's finest moment as a batsman. He thrashed every Aussie bowler around the park, Tom Moody was one of them.

Just picture the dressing room with Tom Moody giving Sachin coaching tips...I can't!

Desmond Haynes

A last minute choice, no previous work ex as a coach, just didn't fit. His argument,'I am most suitable, as the next world cup is in Windies', was as lame as it could get and exposed his thought process too.

Going by his logic we should be changing coaches as per the tours and then what would the Aussies do? Their best coaches Marsh, Buchanan, Simpson have all been from the soil. Poor Aussies they are struggling badly aren't they? A decade of dominance, two world cups, ya they sure are struggling!

Mohinder Amarnath.

Hilarious wasn't he? I don't know what the big deal is about laptops and computers in coaching. We don't either, ask Buchanan and Wright who used technology to the fullest to study other teams and exploit their weaknesses and strengthen their own teams as well. In today's world where everything is being technology driven, when cricketers have acknowledged the immense help it has offered to them, Mr. Amarnath doesn't understand the big deal about it.

He is not into coaching but is of the firm belief that only an Indian coach can do a better job with the Indian team as he alone would understand their mindset.

Ashok Malhotra even asked, What did Mr. Wright do? He was insulted, cause he and Madan Lal were not considered as suitable candidates, even though they have been coaching regular A-level sides. Madan Lal, may I remind you was a national coach and am not too sure the current senior players would have been too keen to have him.

What did Mr. Wright do? Nothing much actually!

• He stayed on as Coach of India for 5 years without a break.
• He brought the team together and built team spirit where they played for each other and not self. No wonder we had so many miraculous comebacks and victories. Had it not been for our old inconsistent selves he would've ended his tenure with a better percentage of victories 40% in tests and 52% in ODIs.
• He got India to her first World Cup final since Kapil's Devils made it in 1983 after a gap of 20 years!!
• India started testing success on foreign soil, every series after a gap of 15 years
• No Indian team had won a test, let alone a series in Pakistan. Wright's India accomplished that and also the ODI victory.
• And last, but not the least, he did what no other team managed in the last decade; provide Australia its serious competitor in the test arena. In the three series played during Wright's Tenure, we won 1, lost 1 and drew the other. Never letting Australia dominate us the way it did others. It added a new rivalry to the world of cricket surpassing the India-Pak and Eng-Aus.

Seriously Mr, Amarnath the previous Indian coaches understood the mindset of Indian team much better than Wright did. Yes Mr. Malhotra what did Wright really do?

I happened to read a column by Gavaskar on the coaching job. What happens in the dressing room is none of our business. Our business is to see if they are performing or not. The point mentioned by him that the players abused Wright face on and would never do that to an 'inefficient' Indian coach is downright ridiculous. He adds to it by saying Wright might have not accepted the job due to these abuses.

Kiddish I must say, it's funny and hard to digest. I'm still trying to understand what point is Gavaskar trying to make and was he not a part of the committee that once again chose a foreign coach? And are we still gonna be debating over the nationality of the coach, Indian or non-indian would be better? Person matters not his religion, not his nationality!

As for the common man, we shouldn't expect miracles out of Greg Chappell, he is dealing with the same inconsistent Indian team. They'll be sparks in between and lull otherwise, they'll just be hmmmm....... Themselves.

Give him the same amount of time and patience as we did to the Wright- Ganguly combo. They did work wonders, they taught us to believe in this team.

Most importantly, let's not compare him and Wright. Even Wright wouldn't want that. The only thing I know for sure is there will be no lethargy creeping into this team and discipline will be at the highest. How they utilize Chappell's experience to the fullest is upto them. How this Indian team shapes up is Chappell's responsibility but more than his, it's the team's responsibility.

Let's see how we take that till the 2007 World Cup!